Wegner Breaks 100 Fly Program Record on Final Night at MIT Invitational
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- First Year Jessica Wegner (Taipei, Taiwan) set a new Wellesley College swimming & diving program record in the 100 Fly to lead the Blue on the final night of the MIT Invitational at the Zesiger Center pool. Wellesley finished fifth overall in the team standings with 424 points.
Tufts (1777 points) edged host MIT (1684) to win the meet. RPI (581) followed in third, while Wheaton (520) was fourth and Wellesley was fifth. Simmons (415), Keene State (193), and Bowdoin (28) rounded out the team standings.
Wegner posted a time of 56.44 in the 100 Fly, registering an NCAA B-Cut to win the event and take down the Blue program record of 56.60 set by Dorothy Ren '16 at the 2016 New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championships. Ren still holds a program-best 10 individual/relay records.
Senior Sunny Chiang (Troy, Mich.) added the only other top-ten time for the Blue on Sunday evening, taking 10th overall in the 200 IM in 2:15.77. Wegner also earned a B-Final win in the 200 IM with a time of 2:11.95. The Blue posted four B-Final wins in total on Sunday.
Wegner opened the evening with the fly leg of the 200 Medley Relay, helping the Blue to earn first place in the B-Final. Juniors Kayleigh Svensson (Palo Alto, Calif.) and Danielle Peterson (Livingston, N.J.), Wegner, and first year Peyton Wang (Palo Alto, Calif.) combined for a time of 1:50.41.
First year Shelby Ripp (St. Louis, Mo.) followed Wellesley's B-Final victory in the 200 Medley Relay with a B-Final victory in the 500 Free, finishing in 5:13.41. Sophomore Hannah May (Cincinnati, Ohio) added the fourth B-Final victory for the Blue in the 100 Free, as she took 11th overall in 54:07.
Following the opening relay, Svensson went on to post the top Wellesley time in the 200 Back, taking third in the B-Final in 2:11.97. Peterson was eighth in the B-Final of 200 Breast final with a time of 2:37.44.
Wellesley capped Sunday, and the meet, with four NCAA B-Cut times in the 400 Medley Relay. The Blue's A-Relay of Peterson, sophomore Margaret Harrigan (Chatham, N.J.), May and Wang was 11th (3:39.72), while the B-Relay of Svensson, senior Crystal Zhu (Chelmsford, Mass.), Ripp and Wegner finished 13th (3:41.94).
The 400 Medley C-Relay of first years Paulina Gonzalez (Caracas, Venezuela) and Julie Mason (Lakeville, Mass.), senior Jessie Feng (Princeton, N.J.) and junior Maggie Haley (Shady Side, Md.) were 22nd (3:49.39). First year Allie Chiou (Chandler, Ariz.), senior Francesca Dong (Princeton Junction, N.J.), Chiang, and first year Marisa Papagelis (Westborough, Mass.) helped the D-Relay to 23rd (3:51.36).
Wellesley will return to the pool in the New Year, when the Blue host Babson and Coast Guard on Thursday, January 10, at 1:00 PM at Chandler Pool.